The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, labels processed meatsGroup 1 carcinogens due to a connection between ingesting processed foods and colorectal cancer. The report was published in the United Kingdom medical journalThe Lancet Oncology.

After inspecting data and information from over 800 studies that looked at the causal link between theconsumption of red meat and the risk of certain cancers, the scientists categorized red meat a carcinogen .

“These findings further support current public health recommendations to limit intake of meat,”IARC Director Dr. Christopher Wildsaid in a statement.

Wild also stated that it was necessary “to balance the risks and benefits of eating red meat and processed meat and to provide the best possible dietary recommendations.”

“A set of 22 scientists from 10 countries inspected over 800 studies on processed meats, and found strong, sufficient causal evidence linking processed meats with an increased risk of colorectal cancer.”

TheNorth American Meat Institute, which represents US packers and processors of certain meats, questioned the validity of the study, emphasizing that “scientific evidence shows cancer is a complex disease not caused by single foods and that a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle choices are essential to good health.”

A set of 22 scientists from 10 countries inspected over 800 studies on processed meats, and found strong, sufficient causal evidence linking processed meats with an increased risk of colorectal cancer – arriving at theGroup 1 categorization.

It doesn’t take much processed meat consumption to increase chances of colorectal cancer, according to the report.

It concludes that about two slices of uncooked bacon (depending on the cut) eaten daily would increase the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent. The group specifies that processed meat is meat that “has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavor or improve preservation.”

The WHO said its findings were a scientific assessment of theevidence, rather than a set of suggestions about what people should or should not be eating.